


Beginnings

by tobiramas-shoulder-fur (Catnerys)



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, Nerds falling in love over history
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-26
Updated: 2020-04-26
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:26:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23853025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Catnerys/pseuds/tobiramas-shoulder-fur
Summary: Indulging Anko was dangerous but not as dangerous as owing her a favor and in the end, it actually turns out quite well for Iruka after all.
Relationships: Namikaze Minato/Umino Iruka
Comments: 4
Kudos: 22





	Beginnings

“Iruka, you need to help me with this guy.” 

He looked up from his computer to see Anko slump on the little sofa he had managed to cramp into his office, dramatically groaning as she covered her face with an arm, the other one dropping to the floor. Deciding that his actual work could wait for a moment, he closed his laptop and sighed. Indulging Anko was dangerous but not as dangerous as owing her a favor so Iruka decided to take the risk for today. 

“Alright, I’ll bite. What is it?” 

Anko groaned again, then sat up suddenly. Her ponytail was slightly mussed, several strands falling loose. It wasn’t really unusual for her _technically_ but it was unusual for work unless it was very late already. But it wasn’t. Iruka checked the clock. They didn’t even had lunch yet. 

“This guy, I swear! He’s a devil!” 

His eyebrows went up as he watched how Anko’s face twisted into something that was usually reserved for when their old next-door neighbour was particularly noise-sensitive and complained about the sound their coffee machine made. Whatever was bothering her must be a big thing, then. Iruka straightened up at the realisation, taking this a little bit more serious than he had a moment ago. 

“He might look cute as all hell but he is evil! So evil! He is the bane of my existence! My nemesis. My own personal hell comes with a sugary sweet smile and too specific requests for notes on plumbing systems.” 

Iruka blinked, then chuckled. Maybe he had gotten worried a little bit too fast. Sure, Anko looked bothered but seemed like it was not as much of an issue as he thought, only a difficult client. He was no stranger to them, remembering times where he had to hunt down elusive papers and works for students and professors alike. 

“So what am I supposed to do?” Iruka asked. 

Anko snapped her fingers at him, looking very determined. This couldn’t be good for him. Everytime she got this look on his face, he had to suffer. Most of the times it was through a hangover but not always. He had no hope that this would be one of this instances where he could walk away with only a hangover. 

“You go and see if you can help him! History is your thing, right? Go and help the poor guy and release me from my suffering!” Anko wailed, doing her best to sound like a damsel in distress but missing by a mile. 

Iruka rolled his eyes at her antics but got up anyway, patting her leg as he passed her. He could do that for her, writing reports wasn’t half as fun anyway. 

“Let me guess: You let that poor guy wait at the info stand?”

He sighed at her affirmative nod and left, making a mental not to insist that Anko would be paying for take-out tonight. Fair was fair after all. 

His office was hidden in the employees-only section, tucked away between two a broom closet and a bathroom and he hated how long it took him to get to the actual library. He did most of his work in his office but still, he would like not to have to walk through half of the building to get to the books. It was annoying. Especially when he actually had to help someone. At least it got him moving, his legs had been on the edge of falling asleep for a while now. 

He picked up his speed, not wanting to keep the guy waiting longer than necessary. Slipping into the giant main room of the library, he looked for someone close by the info stand. He couldn’t spot anyone at first but once he got closer, he saw a man crouching in front of a shelf just a bit to the left. 

“Ah, excuse me.” Iruka started once he came close enough to speak without having to raise his voice too much. “Did you ask Mitarashi-san for assistance?” 

The man turned to look at him, visibly startled, and Iruka’s next words got stuck in his throat. When Anko had said something about the guy looking ‘cute as all hell’, he thought she had been exaggerating just for the sake of her dramatics. She hadn’t. The man was cute. Very much so, in fact. 

He was about the same height once he straightened up again, which he did hurriedly once he realized Iruka was talking to him, with very bright blue eyes. Blond hair framed his face, reaching just past his shoulders with some shorter strands sticking away wildly from his head but Iruka was immediately drawn to the soft smile that made his eyes crinkle just a bit. The man brushed some invisible dirt off his jeans before holding out his hand. 

“Yes! You are the expert she mentioned, I take it? Minato Namikaze, pleased to meet you!” 

Iruka smiled and shook his hand, delighted when the man’s smile widened and he cocked his head just slightly to the side. He could feel a matching, sincere smile rising on his own face. 

“Iruka Umino, the pleasure is all mine. So, I heard you’re looking for informations about… plumbing systems?”

Minato nodded eagerly, his hair bouncing with the movement. Iruka’s heart might have skipped a beat but he refused to blush. He was a professional. Attractive customers did not affect him or his work, at all. Even if they were adorable. He cleared his throat, only then realizing he was still holding his hand and pulled it back quickly. 

“Okay, how about you explain to me what exactly you’re looking for, Namikaze-san?” 

He briskly walked behind the counter, quickly pulling up their search function on the computer, just in case. Minato followed until he was across the counter from Iruka, looking vaguely excited. 

“I’m looking for anything you have about the sewer system from Uzushiogakure. I already read Hiruzen Sarutobi’s work on it, so I won’t need that but anything besides that would be really helpful.” 

Iruka hummed thoughtfully, already typing away. He wasn’t an expert on Uzushiogakure per se but he had read a couple of books on it before, even if he wasn’t sure if sewer systems were a focus in any of them. He could find out, though. 

“Hold on just a moment, please.” 

He scrolled through a list of books and papers, marking a few that might be interesting to Minato. There wasn’t much, if he was being honest. The ruins of Uzushiogakure were the focus of many studies and papers but they mostly focused on the culture and the people. It wasn’t that there was nothing about architecture and infrastructure but finding something for sewer systems was a bit of a challenge. He found something anyways. 

“There is a book by Tobirama Senju called Infracture in the Land of Whirlpools which might be relevant to your interests. We don’t have it here but I can order it from the library that has it. It might take two to three days.” 

Minato was already nodding along, still smiling, and Iruka couldn’t help but return it. He only now noticed the dark bags under his eyes. Minato did look a bit rumpled, Iruka realized, taking in the ink stains on his hands and on the sleeves of his sweater. His bag was only half closed, loose papers and a notepad sticking out, both covered in a hurried but very neat handwriting. Iruka knew that look all too well. It was the look of someone who was in the middle of writing an essay or paper that probably made up a great deal of their grade. He had pulled it off several times himself before he graduated and saw it almost daily in the library. Judging from Minato’s age, he was probably working on a dissertation of some kind. Iruka didn’t envy him. He was glad he had this behind him. 

“Alright, I’ll order it for you then, Namikaze-san. Your student ID card, please?”

“Thank you very much, Umino-san!” Minato said, rummaging in his bag. “There you go!” 

Iruka took the card with a smile and scanned it quickly before typing some necessary information into the computer to complete the order. A small window popped open that let him know it went through and he turned back to Minato. 

“There! That’s all. It should arrive in a couple of days. You’ll probably get an e-mail notification about it if you activated that.” 

Minato’s fingers brushed his as he took his card back and Iruka’s heart did a little skip but he did his best not to fumble awkwardly because of it. It wasn’t easy but he managed. 

“Thank you very much, Umino-san!” 

He waved him off with a smile and watched how he left, quickly disappearing outside the door. This hadn’t even been so difficult. Anko probably just wanted to bail on people again since she was more than capable of using the search engine by herself. Iruka decided she would treat him for lunch, too, just because he could. 

+++

Iruka was sorting through a stack of returned books when Anko waved him over, looking more than slightly pissed off. He quickly walked over even though he really didn’t want to deal with anything right now.  
  
Anko and him were the only employees that were in the library today and it showed. They were constantly busy, rushing from one place to another to try and keep up with everything. He would blame it on the coworkers that failed to show up but with Kurenai being pregnant and Hayate’s stubborn cough he couldn’t really. They did their best to not let it affect their work but sometimes it just happend that doctor’s appointment fell into work times. At least Kurenai would come back in a few hours and if Hayate was feeling bad enough to call in sick, it meant he was feeling really off. Iruka sighed and pushed his annoyance down; he didn’t have time for this right now. 

“What is it?” He asked. 

Anko snarled and basically shoved him towards the computer. He caught himself on the edge of the counter, only barely resisting boxing her in the arm for it. It wasn’t his fault this was a shitty day but it also wasn’t hers. He took a deep breath. 

“Search engine is down.” 

He blinked a couple of times, staring dumbly at the screen as if it made the big _ERROR_ sign go away, then sighed, visibly deflating. Not a good day, at all. 

“Did you call IT yet?” He asked as he reloaded the site, maybe it would help. 

“I’m not an idiot, so yes I did and they are sending someone over as soon as they can but apparently everybody is very busy right now, so nobody will be here before lunch. Or so they said.” 

Iruka made a vague sound and rubbed his temples. Knowing their IT department, it would probably take even longer for anyone to show up. The IT and the library department had two things in common: They were really underappreciated and notoriously understaffed. That’s probably why they got along so well together. 

“I hope it’s Kakashi.” Iruka said. 

Kakashi usually took every possibility to avoid work as much as possible but he knew that if he came here, Iruka was willing to hide him in the staff room for a while so he could read or take a nap after work. Not that Iruka endorsed his work ethic or anything, he just appreciated his computers working and Kakashi was the best at fixing them. The staff sofa wasn’t even that comfortable so at least he wasn’t rewarding him either. It made him feel at least a little bit better about it. 

Anko made some kind of sound- he wasn’t sure if that was an agreement or not but he decided to just take it as whatever and go on with his work. The books wouldn’t sort themselves even if he would like that very much. 

“Let’s just hope nobody needs anything searched for.” Anko grumbled. 

Of course, they weren’t that lucky because not even ten minutes later Minato walked in. Iruka barely held back a sigh when he saw him. For the past couple of weeks, Minato had been coming in close to regularly, always looking for some specific book about some kind of historical topic and Anko had started to just referring him to Iruka instead of trying to help herself. Not that he was complaining- Minato was incredible nice and so interesting to talk to- but this really wasn’t the right time to go looking for an obscure book. 

“Angel Boy is here again.” Anko said as if he hadn’t noticed already. 

He shouldered past her and towards the man, who was already smiling brightly at him, lifting his arm for a small wave. The smile Iruka managed to give him as a greeting probably looked about as sincere as he was feeling good, which wasn’t at all. Iruka could see Minato’s face transforming into a worried frown. 

“Please tell me you’re here for a study session or something like that.” He said, voice just shy from begging. 

The frown deepened. Not good, Iruka decided. He most definitely didn’t like that look on Minato’s face, much preferring the glint he got in his eyes when they discussed history together or the wide smile he gave him, whenever Iruka found something he could use for his dissertation. 

“Is something wrong?” Minato asked. 

Iruka waved him off, brushing back a strand of hair that had fallen out of his ponytail with the other hand. His next smile- still forced- did nothing to bring the smile he had come to like so much to Minato’s face and he didn’t want to think about what it might mean about how done he looked right now. 

“We have no access to the search engine right now. So you better need something I know we have and where or we’re not getting anywhere.”

Minato’s face told him that this probably wasn’t the case and Iruka chuckled. Of course not. That would be too easy, after all. 

“Okay, just tell me what you need and I make a note about it.” 

He had already turned back to walk to the info stand, trusting Minato would follow him. Anko had disappeared to somewhere, probably angry texting someone about this situation and he couldn’t blame her at all. He kind of wanted to do that, too, but he could wait until lunch for that. He just hoped she’d come back soon, there was no way he could run this on his own. 

It took some time to find something he could take notes on that wasn’t already used for something else but eventually he did find a bunch of sticky notes. Finding a functioning pen was even worse, they seemed to only have not working ones. 

“Alright, ready. What do you need?”

Minato looked somewhat hesitant as he approached, eyes focused on Iruka and he didn’t quite get why but he didn’t had to. All he had to do is do his job and not lose the stick note. He could probably put them in his timer, just in case. At least he wouldn’t forget about it there since he checked it several times during the day. He could do that. 

“I’m looking for something about the feudal system in Kirigakure and the effects of the Bloody Mist Era on the economy and cultural development.” Minato said. 

Iruka scribbled it down quickly, mentally going through some books he knew. The history of Kirigakure was something he was very familiar with, having spent most of his undergraduate years with studying it. He pulled out another sticky note and wrote down several works that came to his mind.

“Lucky you, Minato-san, I have some things here that you’ll be interested in. But these are some other works that might help you. We don’t have all of them here but I know some of them are in other libraries and we can order them for you once the system is back up. For some, you have to either buy them or write the author to get a copy.” 

Minato took the note he was holding out with a gentle smile, reading over it quickly before tucking it into the breast pocket on his shirt. He then managed to catch Iruka’s wrist, squeezing it slightly. 

“Thank you again, Iruka-san, I’d really be lost without you.”

Iruka blushed bright red, feeling the sudden heat rising on his cheeks. He tried to say something but all that came out of his mouth was a cough and some half-formed words. Minato didn’t stop smiling through it all, squeezing his wrist again before letting go. It took another moment for him to collect himself again and he hurriedly put the for himself note into his timer. 

Minato didn’t have to follow him as he fetched the books they had in the library but he did, happily chatting about the history of Kirigakure and Iruka found it hard not to smile, the stress momentarily slipping into the background. 

+++

“You’re flirting.” 

Startled, Iruka looked back to Kakashi. His friend was sitting on top of his table- even though sitting was a loose term, he was more lounging than anything- staring at him over the edge of his book. 

“What? With whom?” Iruka asked. 

He was crouching over a box filled with orders that had come in this morning, sorting through them so he could put them into their place later on. Kakashi had come in shortly after his shift had started and had claimed his table for himself, bothering Iruka by randomly reading passages from his book out loud and occasionally demanding snacks. He wasn’t as annoying as Iruka pretended he was but he wasn’t going to admit that. 

“Well, Minato-senpai, of course.” Kakashi waved his book at him, looking bored. “I don’t know how you flirt through history talk but you’re doing it.” 

Iruka stood so fast his back cracked in protest, staring at Kakashi with wide eyes. He cackled- full on cackled, Iruka was going to strangle him some day- and sat up, propping his feet on the chair. Iruka pushed them off. 

“I’m not _flirting_!” He hissed. “Why do you even think that?” 

Kakashi smiled, even if the only thing indicating it was the way his eye turned upwards. Iruka twitched, knowing very well he was blushing but there was no sense in hiding it from Kakashi. He smelled embarrassment like a bloodhound and took a perverse kind of joy in poking and provoking, Iruka knew that all too well. 

“Maa, Iruka, then explain to me what you’re doing and how that’s not flirting.” 

The book he was holding was one he had ordered for Minato, one of many, actually. If he had to guess then probably about half of this batch were for him. 

“I’m just helping him with his research! It’s not flirting! I’m not flirting!” Iruka insisted. “And why are you calling him ‘senpai’?”

Kakashi slid from the table to the chair, swinging his legs over the armrest, heels resting on the table and pushed his hands in the pockets of is hoodie. Iruka pinched the bridge of his nose. 

“Sure, let’s pretend you’re not. And he’s my senpai because we were both in the martial arts club during high school.” He drawled, tipping his head back. 

Iruka huffed and put another stack of books to the side, marking them carefully for their supposed places. He was most definitely not flirting with Minato! He just wanted to help him with his research, that was all. He had no bigger motive at all! Not that he wouldn’t mind if _something_ would happen but he wasn’t _trying_ to get somewhere with Minato! He respected the man too much for that. His visits had become the highlight of his work day and Iruka loved having to look for obscure works. Talking to someone who was just as much into history as him was amazing, especially since Minato knew even more things than him! 

But he wasn’t flirting. He was just supporting him. That was Iruka’s job, after all, he was supposed to help people with their research and he was doing it! Maybe he was a little bit more into it than usually but Minato was asking for such interesting things, how could he deny him? He made Iruka want to find stuff! 

“Iruka, I want snacks. Do you have peanuts?” 

“Tsk! Get your filthy feet off my table! And get your own damn snacks, you freeloader!” 

+++

Frowning, Iruka pushed the glasses further up again, still not used to the foreign feeling on his face. Everything did look less blurry with them and he didn’t have to squint to be able to read smaller prints but it didn’t mean he had to like it. He very much did not. He looked stupid. The glasses were stupid. He hated them. 

“Hello, Iruka, how are y-” 

Minato suddenly trailed off, stopping just a few steps away from Iruka and blinked. Iruka looked over his shoulder to see what was so surprising but he didn’t see anything out of the usual. 

“Is something wrong?” He asked. 

“Uh, ah, no! It’s just… You have glasses now?” 

Iruka chuckled, pushing them up again. They just kept sliding down, no matter what he did. How did people deal with that every day? It was so annoying. 

“Yeah, I finally gave into Anko’s nagging and went to the doctor. I didn’t think I needed one but looks like I was wrong.” 

He rubbed the back of his neck, suddenly feeling very self conscious as he felt Minato’s eyes lingering on his face. The glasses were very noticeable despite the fact that he chose a pretty subtle and simple black half-frame. It still made his face look very different. And weird, in his opinion. 

“I think they suit you, Iruka.“

His face was red again, he just knew it but there was nothing Iruka could do about it and so he just cleared his throat awkwardly and fiddled with his glasses again. 

“So.. what are you looking for this time?” He asked quickly. 

Minato waved his phone through the air and smiled. There was a bracelet wrapped around his wrist, brightly colored beads in the form of stars and hearts strung up next to each other. It was new and obviously self-made and Iruka’s eyes were drawn to it. 

“I got the email that something I ordered had arrived. Could you look for it?” 

It only took a quick check-up on what he was looking for, then Iruka had what Minato needed and he quickly scanned his student ID. The blond didn’t leave immediately once he realized there was nothing that needed Iruka’s immediate attention, something he had started doing a while ago. Iruka liked the days where that was possible. 

“Iruka, ah-” 

He looked up briefly from where he was typing to shoot Minato a questioning look. His glasses slipped down a little bit and he pushed them up again. 

“Yeah? What is it?” Iruka asked. 

Minato looked to the side, looking a lot more sheepish than usually, head cocked to the side. He was still smiling, though, so Iruka was not overly concerned about his suddenly kind of odd behaviour. 

“Would you like to go for a coffee with me after your shift?” 

The words came out very quick, even more so than when Minato really got into a topic and started rambling, and Iruka needed a moment to catch up with the words. Once he did, he stopped, fingers hovering over the keyboard as he blinked rapidly. Was he asking him for a date? Did Minato want to go out with him? 

“Uh, yes! Yes, of course!” 

Minato smiled, wide and brilliant and Iruka couldn’t help but smile back. 

**Author's Note:**

> What about Kushina and Naruto, I hear you ask (I don't but here it is anyway). Kushina and Minato were highschool sweethearts, had Naruto at some point while they were in University but realized they weren't working out and seperated. They are still friends and work together to raise Naruto.


End file.
